Hot, sensual lips touched the base of her neck, cold hands ripping the rough fabric of her bodice and tearing the pieces to shreds. He pushed his knee between her thighs, forcing them open as his tongue lapped at her collarbone.
Despoina's breath caught in her throat, fingers grasping the sheets beneath her as the man trailed his heated kisses to the valley between her breasts.
Slowly, his hands explored lower, tantalizing touches leaving a searing lust behind. Wanton desire grew in her abdomen and spread throughout her bloodstream as a moan escaped her rosy lips.
His lips did not leave her body for one second. The hunger, the need, and the overwhelming possibility of sinking deeper into his loving embrace drove her wild, and she could only beg him, could only express herself through airy words.
The more she squirmed under his skillful fingers teasing her against the most heated region of her body, the more force he used to drawl a long groan from her.
"Sir-"
The man said nothing, his head tilting upwards till glowing, ruby eyes subdued her, hypnotizing her willpower to pull herself away from a man of sinful, delicious ardor.
He grinned deviously, flashing a pair of fangs as they sunk into the tender skin of her bosom before she could scream. Within an instant, the pleasure intensified along with the aching pain that cooled her body from overheating.
A vampire.
Jolting awake, she sat up abruptly. Despoina's heart drummed against her chest, blood pulsing through her brain as the erotic images filled her mind in painted portraits of a love tale, a forbidden romance mingled in an element of fantasy.
Darkness shrouded the intensity, the needless whispers of warning, and her head spin. A pounding headache began to form as she tried to remember, tried to piece the mystery her brain had conjured up, yet it felt as though a fortress of stone stood in her way.
Prying into those dangerous thoughts only agonized another headache, a subtle pain telling her to stay away, to erase any thoughts of the red-eyed man, a vampire, a legend, and a seductive lore.
Who is he?
"Despoina!" called her sister's voice from outside her door. "Arise, my dear. We have a circus to attend tonight."
She sighed. "I refuse to go!" she shouted back, falling back against her pillows.
The creak of the door was heard, footsteps approaching her bed as her sister's dress dragged behind her, the tail of navy ruffles outlining the shape of the corset beneath her gown and the wired cage it fell over.
Despoina dared a glance at her, frowning.
Her sister, Lilith, stared down with a disapproving gaze, bright, blue eyes becoming cloudy at the lack of interest Despoina showed. Lilith's dark, chestnut hair was curled to her shoulders, a large updo above her head as ocean blue gems and moonlit pearls weaved into her hair, a symbol of her sister's status as the wife of a Duke.
"Honestly, Despoina," she exasperated, walking over to pull her curtains to the side as a store of sunlight blinded her room. "How will we ever find you a husband if you sulk in your room all day?"
"I feel ill."
Her sister rolled her eyes. "That trick will only work once."
"Fine, then I tell you the truth when I say I like my solitude and prefer to be left alone," scoffed Despoina as she threw an arm over her eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Stars After Midnight
Historical Fiction*THREE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES* A fairytale of adventures where heroines and heroes meet in different worlds with different customs, where their love has no bounds and their struggles have no limits. Set in a period before our time, these couples ho...
